A new law signed by Gov. Josh Stein this week expands the amount of paid parental leave available to state employees and public school employees.
Under the Public Workforce Modernization Act, eligible full-time employees will be able to receive 12 weeks of paid parental leave. Part-time employees can receive a pro-rated amount of leave.
Prior to this, teachers and state employees received either four or eight weeks of paid leave depending on whether or not they gave birth. Birthing parents received twice the amount of paid leave, to include time for their own recuperation.
Advocates for children and families are celebrating the new law. Tina Sherman of MomsRising said it's a critical benefit for not only mothers who give birth, but also their partners.
"Studies have shown that when both parents are engaged, have access to that leave, it benefits the entire family," Sherman said.
Studies that looked at California's expansion of paid family leave linked it to increased engagement of fathers, improved mental health for mothers, longer periods of breastfeeding, and lower infant mortality.
How will the new policy work? When does it take effect?
The new law takes effect Oct. 1, but it is not yet clear what the deadline will be for a birth, adoption, or placement of a child to qualify for the expanded leave.
The State Human Resources Commission will set more specific rules for the leave policy. Then the UNC System, the Community College System, other state agencies and local school boards will set policies for their own employees in line with those rules. The commission meets quarterly, and last met in June.
During prior expansions of paid leave, the commission backdated the deadline for qualifying events to when the law took effect.
Geoff Coltrane, senior director of government affairs at the Department of Public Instruction, updated the State Board of Education on the new policy this week.
Coltrane highlighted that this benefit goes to all new parents. For the past few years, state employees who are non-birthing parents received four weeks of paid leave, and needed to use accrued vacation time for additional time away from work.
"Doesn't matter if you gave birth to the child, if you adopt the child, every employee would be eligible for up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave," Coltrane said.
"Back in 2023, when the eight weeks and four weeks of leave became law, the state board adopted rules that made it so that those same requirements applied to school districts. And so I'm imagining this change will also sort of prompt the same requirement," Coltrane added.
In 2023, the state also appropriated funds to cover the cost of substitute teachers so that public schools could afford the new benefit. Coltrane said similar funding was not provided in this new legislation.
The Office of State Human Resources did not respond to a request for more information before publication.
